Hire Right: The Candidate is Interviewing You!

After months of building a job description, posting online, screening resumes and interviewing candidates, you found the right one, finally!

Through all of your due diligence finding the best candidates, however, your team had one major flaw.

You bombed the interview.

Your dream candidate doesn’t want the job. They never did.

Maybe your team showed up late to the interview, maybe they were disinterested. Maybe your “we work 8-5 Monday through Friday every week” mentality scared them away.

Regardless of the reasoning, it’s time to nail the next interview.

- Be on time, be prepared and be fully engaged – our core values at Kforce.

- Provide additional resumes to anyone who doesn’t have a copy.

- Have a list of your recent accomplishments prepared to share.

- Research your interviewee

- Describe what separates you from your competitors.

- Provide examples of how you’ve worked with colleagues to achieve a common goal.

- Be flexible, and provide detail on how and why.

- If you’re interested, SAY IT.

Oh and I apologize for the confusion, this list is not for candidates, this is for you Mr. Manager.

Now, don’t get me wrong, this isn’t a flaw on you, or your company. This is a flaw surrounding not only the Pittsburgh recruiting market; but the entire country. There is a significant talent shortage and our hiring processes are to blame.

Since 2010, job postings for IT positions have increased by 48%.

Thus, candidates are receiving multiple offers, quickly. Being nimble is key. It’s critical to streamline your hiring process so that you can bring talent onboard quickly. The supply is low, and the demand is high. A lengthy hiring process is the surest way to lose a professional.

On average, in Pittsburgh, Kforce’s research team sees 18 jobs for every one Java Developer. 18! Heck, a talented developer could interview at a different company, every day, for nearly a month.

What happens at the end of that month? Offers - lots of them. Just as important as streamlining your hiring process is forming a solid backup plan. What resources do you have on hand if your top professional turns you down? Do you have funds available to continue searching or to make a counteroffer? Can you keep your project’s momentum alive while you find another top professional?

Now, that candidate you love, whom knocked your socks off, fitting your description to a tee, is deciding between five options.

The selection you thought you’d be making is sitting on the other end of the table. The microscope you thought you’d be putting candidates under is firmly focused on you.

They’re focusing on your benefits package; can you care for their family?

They’re focusing on your flexibility; can they work from home?

They’re focusing on your professionalism; did you respond to their email?

They’re focusing on culture; is there a work-life balance?

Finally, they’re edging back, taking it all in. Will they be working with technologies and team members that will improve their life both professionally and personally?

Don’t think candidates don’t care about compensation. They do. However, less and less candidates are putting money on the top of their wish list. What good is a $150,000 salary aboard a sinking ship?

Chances are, with the demand and growth in Pittsburgh, most of you are not on that sinking ship. With the vast opportunities across the city, we’re becoming a technology leader, and it’s time to plunder across the country.

It’s not only time to start selling yourself and your company during an interview; it’s time to sell Pittsburgh.

Compared to the rest of the country, Pittsburgh does extremely well in graduating technology talent. What we do not do well, however, is keeping graduating technology talent.

Cities such as Boston, Austin and Baltimore not only graduate a high number of technology students, but they also emigrate graduates from other states. In Pittsburgh, they migrate.

So, Mr. Manager, it’s time to fight for your city, and fight for your company. It’s time to treat every interview as though you’re the one under the microscope, the one interviewing.

Because the sooner you start interviewing, the sooner you’ll start hiring.

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